Haneda was the primary international airport serving Tokyo until 1978; from 1978 to 2010, Haneda handled almost all domestic flights to and from Tokyo as well as "scheduled charter" flights to a small number of major cities in East Asia, while Narita International Airport handled the vast majority of international flights. In 2010, a dedicated international terminal was opened at Haneda in conjunction with the completion of a fourth runway, allowing long-haul flights during nighttime hours.[3] Haneda opened up to long-haul service during the daytime in March 2014, with carriers offering nonstop service to 25 cities in 17 countries.[4] The Japanese government is currently encouraging the use of Haneda for premium business routes and the use of Narita for leisure routes and by low-cost carriers.[5]

In December 2009, ForbesTraveller.com recognized Haneda Airport as the most punctual airport in the world for two years in a row, with 94.3% of its flights departing on time and 88.6% arriving on time.[7]

Before the construction of Haneda Airport, aviators in Tokyo used various beaches of Tokyo Bay as airstrips, including beaches near the current site of Haneda. In 1930, the Japanese postal ministry purchased a 48-hectare (120-acre) portion of waterfront land from a private individual in order to construct an airport.[8]

Haneda Airfield (羽田飛行場,Haneda Hikōjō?) first opened in 1931 on a small piece of bayfront land at the south end of today's airport complex. It was Japan's largest civil airport at the time it was constructed, and took over from the army air base at Tachikawa as the main operating base of Japan Air Transport, then the country's flag carrier. The first flight from the airport on August 25, 1931 carried a load of insects to Dalian.[8]

During the 1930s, Haneda handled flights to destinations in Japan, Korea and Manchuria.[9] The major Japanese newspapers also built their first flight departments at Haneda during this time, and Manchukuo National Airways began service between Haneda and Hsinking. JAT was renamed Imperial Japanese Airways following its nationalization in 1938. [8] Passenger and freight traffic grew dramatically in these early years. In 1939, Haneda's first runway was extended to 800 metres (2,600 ft) in length and a second 800-metre (2,600 ft) runway was completed.[10] The airport's size grew to 72.8 hectares (180 acres) using land purchased by the postal ministry from a nearby exercise ground.[8]

In the late 1930s, the Tokyo government planned a new Tokyo Municipal Airport on an artificial island in Koto Ward. At 251 hectares (620 acres), the airport would have been five times the size of Haneda at the time, and significantly larger than Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, which was said to be the largest airport in the world at the time. The airport plan was finalized in 1938 and work on the island began in 1939 for completion in 1941, but the project fell behind schedule due to resource constraints during World War II. This plan was officially abandoned following the war, as the Allied occupation authorities favored expanding Haneda rather than building a new airport; the island was later expanded by dumping garbage into the bay, and is now known as Yumenoshima.[11]

On September 12, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers and head of the occupation of Japan following World War II, ordered that Haneda be handed over to the occupation forces. On the following day, he took delivery of the airport, which was renamed Haneda Army Air Base, and ordered the eviction of many nearby residents in order to make room for various construction projects, including extending one runway to 1,650 metres (5,410 ft) and the other to 2,100 metres (6,900 ft). On the 21st, over 3,000 residents received orders to leave their homes within 48 hours. Many resettled on the other side of a river in the Haneda district of Ota, surrounding Anamoriinari Station, and some still live in the area today.[12] The expansion work commenced in October 1945 and was completed in June 1946, at which point the airport covered 257.4 hectares (636 acres). Haneda AAF was designated as a port of entry to Japan.[8]

Haneda was mainly a military and civilian transportation base used by the U.S. army/air force as a stop-over for C-54 transport planes departing San Francisco, en route to the Far East and returning flights. A number of C-54s, based at Haneda AFB, participated in the Berlin Blockade airlift. These planes were specially outfitted for hauling coal to German civilians. Many of these planes were decommissioned after their participation due to coal dust contamination. Several US Army or Air Force generals regularly parked their personal planes at Haneda while visiting Tokyo, including General Ennis Whitehead. During the Korean War, Haneda was the main regional base for United States Navy flight nurses, who evacuated patients from Korea to Haneda for treatment at military hospitals in Tokyo and Yokosuka.[13] US military personnel based at Haneda were generally housed at the Washington Heights residential complex in central Tokyo (now Yoyogi Park).

Haneda Air Force Base received its first international passenger flights in 1947 when Northwest Orient Airlines began DC-4 flights to the United States, China, South Korea, and the Philippines. Flights to Europe began later in 1947: Pan Am DC-4s to Calcutta, connecting there to Constellations to New York.

The U.S. military gave part of the base back to Japan in 1952; this portion became known as Tokyo International Airport. The US military maintained a base at Haneda until 1958 when the remainder of the property was returned to the Japanese government.[8]

Japan's flag carrierJapan Airlines began its first domestic operations from Haneda in 1951. For a few postwar years Tokyo International Airport did not have a passenger terminal building. The Japan Airport Terminal Co., Ltd. TYO: 9706 was founded in 1953 to develop the first passenger terminal, which opened in 1955. An extension for international flights opened in 1963.[14] European carriers began service to Haneda in the 1950s. Air France arrived at Haneda for the first time in November 1952.[15]BOACde Havilland Comet flights to London via the southern route began in 1953, and SASDC-7 flights to Copenhagen via Anchorage began in 1957. JAL and Aeroflot began cooperative service from Haneda to Moscow in 1967. Pan Am and Northwest Orient used Haneda as a hub. The August 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 86 domestic and 8 international departures each week on Japan Air Lines. Other international departures per week: seven Civil Air Transport, three Thai DC4s, 2 Hong Kong Airways Viscounts (and maybe three DC-6Bs), two Air India and one QANTAS. Northwest had 16 departures a week, Pan Am had 12 and Canadian Pacific had four; Air France three, KLM three, SAS five, Swissair two and BOAC three. As of 1966, the airport had three runways: 15L/33R (10,335 by 200 feet (3,150 m × 61 m)), 15R/33L (9,850 by 180 feet (3,002 m × 55 m)) and 4/22 (5,150 by 150 feet (1,570 m × 46 m)).[16]

The Tokyo Monorail opened between Haneda and central Tokyo in 1964, in time for the Tokyo Olympics. During 1964 Japan lifted travel restrictions on its citizens, causing passenger traffic at the airport to swell.[14] The introduction of jet aircraft in the 1960s followed by the Boeing 747 in 1970 also required various facility improvements at Haneda. Around 1961, the government began considering further expansion of Haneda with a third runway and additional apron space, but forecast that the expansion would only meet capacity requirements for about ten years following completion. In 1966, the government decided to build a new airport for international flights. In 1978, Narita Airport opened, taking over almost all international service in the Greater Tokyo Area, and Haneda became a domestic airport.[8]

Terminal 2, completed in 2004, now houses All Nippon Airways, StarFlyer, Skynet Asia and Air Do.

While most international flights moved from Haneda to Narita in 1978, airlines based in the Republic of China continued to use Haneda Airport for many years due to the ongoing political conflict between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China. China Airlines served Taipei and Honolulu from Haneda; Taiwan's second major airline, EVA Air, joined CAL at Haneda in 1999. All Taiwan flights were moved to Narita in 2002, and Haneda-Honolulu services ceased. In 2003, JAL, ANA, Korean Air and Asiana began service to Gimpo Airport near Seoul, providing a "scheduled charter" city-to-city service.

The Transport Ministry released an expansion plan for Haneda in 1983 under which it would be expanded onto new landfill in Tokyo Bay with the aim of increasing capacity, reducing noise and making use of the large amount of garbage generated by Tokyo. In July 1988, a new 3,000-metre (9,800 ft) A runway opened on the landfill. In September 1993, the old airport terminal was replaced by a new West Passenger Terminal, nicknamed "Big Bird," which was built farther out on the landfill. New C (parallel) and B (cross) runways were completed in March 1997 and March 2000 respectively.[8] In 2004, Terminal 2 opened at Haneda for ANA and Air Do; the 1993 terminal, now known as Terminal 1, became the base for JAL, Skymark and Skynet Asia Airways.[17]

In October 2006, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reached an informal agreement to launch bilateral talks regarding an additional city-to-city service between Haneda and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.[18] On 25 June 2007, the two governments concluded an agreement allowing for the Haneda-Hongqiao service to commence from October 2007.[19]

In December 2007, Japan and the People's Republic of China reached a basic agreement on opening charter services between Haneda and Beijing Nanyuan Airport. However, because of difficulties in negotiating with the Chinese military operators of Nanyuan, the first charter flights in August 2008 (coinciding with the 2008 Summer Olympics) used Beijing Capital International Airport instead, as did subsequent scheduled charters to Beijing.[20]

In June 2007, Haneda gained the right to host international flights that depart between 8:30 PM and 11:00 PM and arrive between 6 AM and 8:30 AM. The airport allows departures and arrivals between 11 PM and 6 AM, as Narita Airport is closed during these hours.[21][22]

Macquarie Bank and Macquarie Airports owned a 19.9% stake in Japan Airport Terminal until 2009, when they sold their stake back to the company.[23]

A third terminal for international flights was completed in October 2010. The cost to construct the five-story terminal building and attached 2,300-car parking deck was covered by a private finance initiative process, revenues from duty-free concessions and a facility use charge of ¥2,000 per passenger. Both the Tokyo Monorail and the Keikyū Airport Line added stops at the new terminal, and an international air cargo facility was constructed nearby.[24][25] The fourth runway (05/23), which is called D Runway,[26] was also completed in 2010, having been constructed via land reclamation to the south of the existing airfield. This runway was designed to increase Haneda's operational capacity from 285,000 movements to 407,000 movements per year, permitting increased frequencies on existing routes, as well as routes to new destinations.[24] In particular, Haneda would offer additional slots to handle 60,000 overseas flights a year (30,000 during the day and 30,000 during late night and early morning hours).[27][28]

In May 2008, the Japanese Ministry of Transport announced that international flights would be allowed between Haneda and any overseas destination, provided that such flights must operate between 11 PM and 7 AM.[27] The Ministry of Transport originally planned to allocate a number of the newly available landing slots to international flights of 1,947 kilometres (1,210 mi) or less (the distance to Ishigaki, the longest domestic flight operating from Haneda).[24]

30,000 annual international slots became available upon the opening of the international terminal in October 2010, and were allocated to government authorities in several countries for further allocation to airlines. While service to Seoul, Taipei, Shanghai and other regional destinations continued to be allowed during the day, long-haul services were limited to overnight hours. Many long-haul services from Haneda struggled, such as British Airways service to London (temporarily suspended and then restored on a less than daily basis) and Air Canada service to Vancouver (announced but never commenced). Delta Air Lines replaced its initial service to Detroit with service to Seattle.[29] In October 2013, American Airlines announced the cancellation of its service between Haneda and New York JFK stating that it was "quite unprofitable" owing to the schedule constraints at Haneda.[30]

Haneda Airport's new international terminal has received numerous complaints from passengers using it during night hours. One of the complaints is the lack of amenities available in the building as most restaurants and shops are closed at night. Another complaint is that there is no affordable public transportation at night operating out of the terminals. The Keikyu Airport Line, Tokyo Monorail and most bus operators stop running services out of Haneda by midnight, and so passengers landing at night are forced to go by car or taxi to their destination. A Haneda spokesperson said that they would work with transportation operators and the government to improve the situation.[31]

Daytime international slots were allocated in October 2013. In the allocation among Japanese carriers, All Nippon Airways argued that it should receive more international slots than Japan Airlines due to JAL's recent government-supported bankruptcy restructuring, and ultimately won 11 daily slots to JAL's five.[29] Nine daytime slot pairs remained unallocated and were intended to be used for service to the United States, but allocation talks were stalled as of January 2014, leading the Japanese government to release these slots for charter services to other countries through October 2014.[32] The new daytime slots led to increased flight capacity between Tokyo and many Asian markets, but did not have a major effect on capacity between Japan and Europe, as several carriers simply transferred flights from Narita to Haneda (most notably ANA and Lufthansa services to Germany, which almost entirely shifted to Haneda).[33] In an effort to combat this effect, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport gave non-binding guidance to airlines that any new route at Haneda should not lead to the discontinuation of a route at Narita, although it was possible for airlines to meet this requirement through cooperation with a code sharing partner (for instance, ANA moved its London flight to Haneda while maintaining a code share on Virgin Atlantic's Narita-London flight).[34]

An expansion of the new international terminal was completed at the end of March 2014. The expansion includes a new 8-gate pier to the northwest of the existing terminal, an expansion of the adjacent apron with four new aircraft parking spots, a hotel inside the international terminal (still under construction), and expanded check-in, customs/immigration/quarantine and baggage claim areas.[35]

In addition to its international slot restrictions, Haneda remains subject to domestic slot restrictions; domestic slots are reallocated by MLIT every five years, and each slot is valued at 2-3 billion yen in annual income.[36]

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is also planning a new road tunnel between the domestic and international terminals in order to shorten minimum connecting times between the terminals from the current 60–80 minutes.[40]

In the span of a month in 1966, three accidents occurred at, or on flights inbound to or outbound from, Haneda.

February 4, 1966: All Nippon Airways Flight 60, a Boeing 727-81, crashed into Tokyo Bay about 10.4 kilometres (6.5 mi) from Haneda in clear weather conditions while on an evening approach. All 133 passengers and crew were killed. The accident held the death toll record for a single-plane accident until 1969.

March 4, 1966: Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402, a Douglas DC-8-43 registered CF-CPK, descended below the glide path and struck the approach lights and a seawall during a night landing attempt in poor visibility. The flight had departed Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport and had almost diverted to Taipei due to the poor weather at Haneda. Of the 62 passengers and 10 crew, only 8 passengers survived.

On March 5, 1966, less than 24 hours after the Canadian Pacific crash, BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707–436 registered G-APFE, broke-up in flight en route from Haneda Airport to Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport, on a segment of an around-the-world flight. The bad weather that had caused the Canadian Pacific crash the day before also caused exceptionally strong winds around Mt. Fuji, and the BOAC jet encountered severe turbulence that caused the aircraft to break up in mid-air at an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,900 m), killing all 113 passengers and 11 crew. The debris field was over 10 miles (16 km) long. Although there was not a cockpit voice recorder on this aircraft or any distress calls made by the crew, the investigators did find an 8mm film shot by one of the passengers that, when developed, confirmed the accident was consistent with an in-flight breakup and loss of control due to severe turbulence. There is a famous photo of the BOAC plane taxiing past the still smouldering wreckage of the Canadian Pacific DC-8 as it taxied out to the runway for its last ever takeoff.

August 12, 1985: Japan Airlines Flight 123, a Boeing 747-146SR suffered a massive decompression when the rear bulkhead was blown out, severing all hydraulic lines and the tail. With all control surfaces so rendered useless, the flight crew managed for a time to maneuver the aircraft with the thrust levers in an attempt to return to Haneda. Of 524 passengers and crew aboard, there were 520 fatalities. The crash of JA123 remains the worldwide deadliest involving a single aircraft.

July 23, 1999: All Nippon Airways Flight 61 was hijacked shortly after takeoff. The hijacker killed the captain before he was subdued; the aircraft landed safely.

Haneda Airport has three terminals. The main terminals, 1 and 2, are connected by an underground walkway; a free shuttle bus runs between the main terminals and the smaller International Terminal every five minutes.

Haneda Airport is open 24 hours, although two domestic passenger terminals are only open from 5 AM to 11:30 PM. Terminal hours may be extended to 24-hour operation due to StarFlyer's late-night and early-morning service between Haneda and Kitakyushu, which began in March 2006. International Terminal is open 24 hours.

All three passenger terminals are managed and operated by private companies. Terminal 1 and 2 are managed by Japan Airport Terminal Co., Ltd. (日本空港ビルディング株式会社,Nippon Kūkō Birudingu Kabushikigaisha?), while International Terminal is managed by Tokyo International Air Terminal Corporation (東京国際空港ターミナル株式会社,Tōkyō Kokusai Kūkō Tāminaru Kabushikigaisha?). The critical facilities of the airport such as runways, taxiways and aprons are managed by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.[41] As of March 2013, domestic terminals have 47 jetways altogether.[42]

A wide view of Haneda Airport's facilities and terminals. JAL and ANA cargo centers are on the far left. To the immediate right of the cargo centers is the Japan Meteorological Agency's Tokyo Airport Weather Observatory, to its right is the Tokyo International Airport Offices Building Two, and the tall white tower to its right is the airport's control tower. The Number Two Parking Area is to the right of the control tower, and Terminal 1 is to the right of the parking area. Terminal 2 is behind Terminal 1 and cannot be seen from this angle. To the right of Terminal 1 are JAL's maintenance centers, and on the far right of the photo are the international cargo facility and the international terminal

Terminal 1 called "Big Bird" opened in 1993. This largest terminal in Haneda Airport replacing the smaller 1970 terminal complex. The linear building features a six-story restaurant, shopping area and conference rooms in its center section and a large rooftop observation deck with open-air rooftop cafe.

The current international terminal opened on October 21, 2010. The first two long-haul flights from the new terminal departed before midnight on October 30, 2010; they were originally scheduled to depart after midnight on October 31, but both departed ahead of schedule.[43]

Haneda Airport has a special VIP terminal and parking spots for private aircraft. This area is often used by foreign heads of state visiting Japan, as well as by the Japanese Air Force One and other aircraft carrying government officials. (Narita is also regularly used for such flights despite its much greater distance from central Tokyo.) In March 2012, Haneda completed a new "Premier Gate" facility for business jets, with parking available for up to 30 days. However, business jet operations are limited to eight slots per day, and these eights slots are shared with Japanese and foreign government aircraft, which receive priority in allocation over private operators.[44]

Haneda Airport is approximately 1.5–2 hours from Narita Airport by rail or bus. Keisei runs direct suburban trains (called Access Express) between Haneda and Narita in 88 minutes for ¥1740 as of May 2012.[49] There are also direct buses between the airports operated by Airport Limousine Bus. The journey takes 65–85 minutes or longer depending on traffic and cost ¥3000 as of May 2012.[50]

^"Peach to offer Tokyo-Taipei service out of Haneda Airport". Nikkei. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015. The [transport] ministry's strategy has been to steer budget carriers, used mainly for leisure travel, toward Narita Airport. Major airlines, used chiefly for business trips, are encouraged to fly out of Haneda.